Good art in unexpected places. (Pallant House Gallery (Chichester))

Member Name: hulahoop

Product:	Pallant House Gallery (Chichester)
Date:	05/11/00 (187 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Houses a bizarre but great combination of artwork

Disadvantages: May be a little difficult to find (ask for directions!!)

Pallant House in Chichester is well known by Chichester’s inhabitants and art students, and a rare gem of a gallery in the Hampshire/West Sussex area. It is hidden away in the small winding back streets of central Chichester, which are artifacts in themselves, by West Street in the shopping area. Surrounded by beautiful grande Victorian (and previous) houses, Pallant House blend in well, but is still distinguishable, with steps, pillars and sculptures, all of which add to the general atmosphere of the place. For West Sussex students admission is free, as for children, but other students and adults admission can be between £2 and £5 depending on the exhibition. I am not sure how accessible it is for the disabled, but the steps leading up to the building could cause a problem.

On entering the house the entrance area seems a little dull and ancient, if antique
furniture, sculpture and art is not your primary interest. However, Pallant House
usually offers an interesting combination of modern and contemporary art, along with its original furniture.

In the main house area, the ground and first floors, artwork and artifacts from Victorian times to early 20th Century are circulated - this exhibition changes slightly each time I visit. (My knowledge of antiques and history is limited so I apologise for inaccuracies). The formerDean of Chichester Cathedral which itself holds some amazing artwork), Dean Hussey, held close links with many artists whom custom designed work for the Cathedral (Chagall, Sutherland) and donated work to Pallant House. Graham Sutherland and John Piper feature heavily in the upstairs rooms. All of the rooms in the house, excepting the main exhibition room, are displayed in their
original state, with its original furniture, such as beds, tables, and the like. This in itself is fascinating because you get to feel like you are in a period drama. I do not usually find such things interesting, but a lot of the crockery,
pottery, and toys are beautifully and skilfully made. Hussey’s collection is quite mixed, and may seem a little badly matched, but individually the artwork is well worth seeing.

The actual gallery space changes constantly, and has been know to house a lot of important modern art and explores different techniques within the subjects. At present
Pallant House is holding an exhibition called ‘Less is more’. At first this struck me as being quite strange. It comprises of a strange mix of pieces from Patrick Caulfield to Peter Blake, which may at first seem normal, but in this context is not. Caulfields’ paintings (‘Portrait of Juan Gris, for example) use simple black lines and flat primary colours with simple shapes. This, I assume, comes under the ‘less is more’ idea. Peter Blake’s painterly Pop art, in this case a portrait of early Beatles (Blake did the cover sleeve for ‘Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club’) seems a little removed from the idea, and almost as if Pallant House is saying, ‘Look we have a Peter Blake Beatles painting -woohoo’. Presmuably they know something about this painting that I don’t (admittedly I know very little). However, his concoction of miniature figurines of different characters from (children’s) popular culture (from a plastic Incredible Hulk to ceramic caricatured Marilyn Monroe), seemed a little more in keeping with the theme.
I have never seen this form of pop art before, but I would be interested to know other peoples opinions on it. The room also contained maquettes and prototypes of
sculptures by various other artists. Obviously pointing to the validity of the workings of a piece of art compared to the final piece, but it almost felt like they couldn’t really be bothered to get the originals in, or just couldn’t fit them into the room. In a similar manner the centre of the room was filled with cabinets which were look-i
n doll sized gallery spaces and a gallery plan of Pallant House. These contained tiny but proper versions of art work by artists from Caulfield to Barbara Hepworth. Again I did wonder what was wrong with putting the originals in, but a theme is a theme, and these miniature paintings were lovely. Next to these a wall was filled with work by Paul Huxley. A giant painting of brighly coloured geometric patterns and black lines, almost an abstract Patrick Caulfield painting, filled one area. Next to these were rows of A6 sized sketches of the workings that led up to the final piece. I enjoyed seeing his thought process behind the work, partly because so much of my university course is concerned with building up background work. In a way these added to the theme, but there was definitely an undertone of the importance of prior thought into art work, which perhaps is not always emphasised and not fully understood by all visitors.

The overall impression that this exhibition left on me was one of the excitement behind
doing art. It’s easy enough to splash some paint on a canvas, but less so to develop
work effectively and create paintings that are aesthetically effective and substantial in their meanings. The whole gallery and, indeed, house seem a little confused in their
uniformity, but I found the whole experience charming and interesting.

Pallant House is definitely worth visiting, if just for a view of different artifacts
working as one in a relatively small area. It is open from Tuesday to Sunday, but it is
best to ring them to find out about exhibitions and opening times.

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